Critics say plan for new Greene County jail not yet a done deal
A proposal to build a new $47 million Greene County Jail in Coxsackie is by no means a done deal, say critics who oppose the plan.
While several county legislators, including Public Safety Committee Chairman Bill Lawrence, support the plan, opponents maintain it is not the way to go and lacks the votes to be approved.
The county Legislature also would need a supermajority of votes to approve bonding for a new jail and opponents say that bonding supporters currently do not have the twothirds majority needed.
The Greene County Jail at 80 W. Bridge St., Catskill, was abruptly closed in April 2018 after Sheriff Greg Seeley said deteriorating conditions had worsened to the point that it had become unsafe to occupy.
Robert Janiszewski, chairman of the steering committee of the Greene County Good Government Coalition, said there are better ways to address the current situation of housing prisoners in other counties after the county jail was closed over safety concerns.
“We need to provide for better alternatives to incarceration than simply locking people up pending trial,” Janiszewski said. “We need to increase the speed of trial to people don’t have to wait for months or a year and then you are found guilty, if they do get found guilty, and get sentenced to time less than what they already served waiting for trial – that makes no sense. There are ways to approach this, ways to minimize numbers, minimize taxpayers’ burden, be more humane and make more sense; none of that is being done in Greene County.”
County Legislator Lori Torgersen, chairwoman of the Alternatives to Incarceration Committee, supports a shared jail facility with Columbia County, saying Greene County is at a transformational moment.
“We have an opportunity to really just capitalize on our relationship with Columbia County and to do work that is absolutely evidenced based and consistent with criminal justice reform nationally, internationally and certainly in the state. I would personally love for Greene County to be a leader on these issues,” she said.
Torgersen said the county faces a real opportunity to make positive change. “My hope is that we see this for the good of the county and the taxpayers and the people who work and reside in the jail.”
Opponents to constructing a large new Greene County Jail maintain reduced jail populations are anticipated in future years because of likely bail reform, approved ‘raise the age’ legislation to stop treating juveniles like adults in criminal cases and alternatives to incarceration.
Although the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been strongly encouraging local governments to innovate cooperative agreements to find new operational efficiencies, Kevin Lewis, chairman of the Greene County Legislature, in May forcefully argued against consideration of a Greene-Columbia jail. Lewis cited 39 state laws from which he said the counties would have to be exempted to develop a joint facility.
Greene lawmakers then rejected a proposal to fund a study into building a joint facility with Columbia County.
The proposed jail would be built on a 32-acre portion of a 50-acre site in Coxsackie donated by the state for building a jail.